Our Openness to Religious Phenomena. Thinking in Questions as a Way to Understand Possibility

The question I aim to address is ‘are there particular ways of thinking about the world that make special divine actions probable, possible or impossible?’ My analysis focuses upon how our philosophical approach to the activity of questioning, itself, shapes how open/closed we are to phenomena. In o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hubick, Joel 1982- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Peeters 2016
In: ET studies
Year: 2016, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 341-349
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
VA Philosophy
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:The question I aim to address is ‘are there particular ways of thinking about the world that make special divine actions probable, possible or impossible?’ My analysis focuses upon how our philosophical approach to the activity of questioning, itself, shapes how open/closed we are to phenomena. In other words, the idea of ‘special divine action’ calls into question how we think about possibility and impossibility. My suggestion is that ‘thinking in the mode of possibility’ can be achieved when we think in questions. I aim to show how ‘thinking in the mode of possibility’ can be exhibited in philosophy of religion through an examination of theological questions independently, but balanced with, these questions’ answers. Instead of merely pursuing answers to these questions (which remain equally important), I try to show how we can value these questions independently of whether they yield answers or not. If I am successful, I will have shown how thinking in questions maintains openness towards unknown possibilities, specifically how we maintain openness towards religious phenomena. Remaining open to such phenomena is not the same as being religious; rather it is an essential aspect of what it means to be a human thinking person.
ISSN:2033-4273
Contains:Enthalten in: Europäische Gesellschaft für Katholische Theologie, ET studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2143/ETS.7.2.3170104